A Thinkfluencer's Christmas Carol:
"Marley was dead: to begin with. Or his brand was, anyway. His Twitter avatar was an egg, and his only tweet read, “Hello, #world. Still figuring out this #twitter thing.” He had no LinkedIn profile. Did Scrooge know Marley’s brand was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? He had forced Marley out of the counting-house, citing his failure to promote the business on social media as an abrogation of his duties."

How does a vegetarian do Christmas?
"I love the few days before Christmas. In fact, I think prefer them to the day itself. I thrive on the frantic last-minute shopping, the armfuls of bags, the evenings wrapping and tying presents. Queuing out the door of the greengrocer’s to overfill my basket with every possible thing I might need (and then the same on top again)."

Why Mariah Carey’s Christmas hit will be around forever:
"Mariah Carey had a banner year in 1994. Her third studio album, 1993’s Music Box, had grown into a blockbuster hit, thanks to the chart success of songs such as the Harry Nilsson cover “Without You” and the inspirational “Hero.” Billboard named Carey the top female pop singles artist of 1994—she had five singles chart in the Hot 100—and the top female pop artist overall, as measured by combined albums and singles activity. Still, even being on a commercial hot streak didn’t guarantee that her 1994 Christmas album, Merry Christmas, which spawned “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” was going to find an audience."

Pregnant waitress gets $900 tip just days before Christmas:
"Everyone knows that waiters and waitresses in the US get lousy wages. It’s one of the reasons people usually try and remember to give them a tip. One couple in Arizona certainly bore that in mind when they gave a heavily pregnant waitress a Christmas gift of $900."

Crowding Around the Nativity:
"The Gospel of Luke says that the pregnant mother of Jesus could not find shelter in an inn, so she had no place to put down her newborn but in an animals’ food trough—phatne in Luke’s Greek, the word rightly translated as praesepium (Latin), krippe (German), crèche (French), presepe (Italian), manger or crib (English)."

A Blood Curdling Collection Of Scary Snowmen:
"The typical soft and smiley snowmen just don't seem appropriate for a year as messed up as 2016, so it's no surprise there have been way more horror snowmen going around the net this year than ever before."

Eva Wiseman: The Christmas journey:
"You're reading this (indulge me) in hour three of a five-hour train ride. Spread out on the table in front of you are an unread novel with an illustration of a teacup on the front (teacup book covers are the new pink stiletto, keep up loves) and a greasy Marks & Spencer salad box containing a single flaccid bean."

All Dead, But Still Alive:
"We’ve no way of knowing for certain what Gordon Murray was doing on 22nd December 1965, but we can take a fairly good guess."

Diary: Alan Bennett.
"11 January. It’s not to disparage David Bowie, but if even a fraction of the tributes being paid to him and his influence were true we would never have had a Conservative government or indeed any government at all."

7 Wonders: Christmas (s)hits:
"When it comes to our contributors and Christmas tunes, it seems one woman’s chocolate Santa is another woman’s soggy sprouts. We all agree Susan Hanks is just plain wrong, mind."

Costume Party: Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut:
"One of the chief pleasures of the film is its enveloping look into the sumptuous lifestyles of the wealthy (lifestyles made all the more aesthetically pleasing when bedecked with twinkling Christmas lights). The very first shot shows Alice from the back as she takes off a filmy black dress."

Racist White Lady Spreads Racist Christmas Cheer To Hispanic Ladies, Racistly:
"Yay, another white racist lady video has gone viral! Even better, this time it is Christmas-themed, because it’s Christmas! It’s a truism these days that, wherever several are gathered when a white lady (or a dumb white man trying to work out his resentment over why he didn’t do better in life) goes on a racist tirade in public, somebody will pull out their Obamaphone and film the whole thing, and they will get reaction shots from the other bystanders, who are equally as “WTF?” as everybody else about the fragile, melting white snowflake making noise in front of them."

How do you spot a fake?
"Graham Wetzbarger is an expert at spotting a fake. He’s Director of Authentication at Californian company The RealReal. The company, which identifies the genuine luxury items to sell them on, now operates in more than 60 countries. The UK border police seized more than a quarter of a million pounds worth of fake designer goods coming in to the UK in the last few weeks at Manchester Airport alone. Graham talks to Winifred Robinson about spotting fake luxury goods and what to watch out for."

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Xmas Files:
"Candy Jar Books have announced a new, free-to-download festive adventure in their Lethbridge-Stewart range, The Feast of Evans by Simon A Forward."

Sue Perkins Drives You Home For Christmas:
"Sue is first UK voice of the free, real time, crowdsourced traffic and navigation app powered by drivers, following US stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Morgan Freeman."

First teaser for ‘Blade Runner 2049’ released:
[Editor's note: Breathtaking. Is Deckard a replicant? If this is a sequel to the theatrical cut then no, and so we just move on with the fact that he's simply aged here like a normal human. But if this follows the pattern of The Final Cut and what Ridley Scott's said in interviews, perhaps the secret implied in the synopsis is that some replicants did not have four year expiry dates. Or indeed none at all, with Blade Runners acting as a way of thinning the numbers. In which case there's a chance here that the notions of protagonist/antagonist of going to be very complex here.]

Which Christmas Songs You’re Most Likely To Hear On The Radio:
"The top 10 holiday tunes played on terrestrial radio account for a whopping 38 percent of all holiday tracks played during the period I pulled data for. We have different amounts of data from different stations because some flipped the switch to the holiday format before others. But when we divide the stations into their constituent Census regions, there’s some variety in how often the top 10 get played."

Giving at Christmas Time:
"The traditions of giving to the less fortunate is alive and well today and many of us will receive leaflets about Christmas charity campaigns through our doors this festive, and witness charity fundraising events whilst out and about. One tradition which has a long heritage is that of the gift of food. Food banks are a topic of current debate and collection baskets for ‘extra items’ you have purchased are now a regular feature in supermarkets."

BBC One & Two Christmas idents:
"When BBC Television began more than years 80 ago, the idea of a TV channel identity was essentially, an unknown concept. One channel, it was the channel, that was the identity, it existed, say no more."

Feeling Festive:
"My final baking projects of the year are done and dusted and I’m really looking forward to Christmas now. The only bakes left to make are the ones that my family and I are going to enjoy over the next week or so. If you want to give the gingerbread house above a go, this week’s blog has everything you need to know."

Top 10 festive food traditions in Europe:
"Whether it’s cinnamon biscuits in Brussels, potato-anchovy casserole in Stockholm or Christmas pudding with a twist in Copenhagen, there’s a wealth of culinary delights on offer at yuletide."

Meetings with seven remarkable Christmas trees:
"Do you wish your Christmas tree had just a little more artistic credibility? You’re not alone. As various galleries and institutions unveil their spectacular festive firs for 2016, created by the world’s leading artists, ALASDAIR MacRAE presents seven examples of Christmas trees that went for something a little different."

Time for some 'Brexmas' Brexitwashing:
"Christmas is always a busy time for retailers and this year will be absolutely no different. As such, Brexit fanzine the Sunday Express may be over-reaching a little with its front page urging readers to consider this Christmas a triumph for Brexit."

An Experiment with Time and Christmas:
"Listeners on Christmas Day evening, 1931, were first treated to the traditional staple of a Christmas service from studio, panto and an appeal on behalf of the British Wireless for the Blind."

The Christmas High Street Christmas Food Taste Test:
"In recent years, the run-up to Christmas has become a race between high street supermarkets, shops, and cafes to see who can come up with the most exciting and innovative festive twists on lunchtime food. Knowing our European counterparts tend to look less than favourably upon British cuisine, we asked teams of French and German BuzzFeed employees to try a sample of British high street Christmas food, to see if our winter offerings redeem us in international eyes."

Boston U. student raises $700 for homeless man just before Christmas:
"Blake Smith, a Boston University junior, turned a class assignment into a Christmas gift. His task? “Create a video that persuades people to think about something differently” for a communications course. Smith’s immediate idea was to craft a video showcasing a man he knows as Freddy, a friendly homeless man in Boston’s Kenmore Square."

Twelve of the best Radio Times Christmas covers:
"For 93 years the Radio Times Christmas issue has been as much a part of British seasonal festivities as mince pies and tinsel. ALISTAIR McGOWN pulls out his highlighter pen to select a dozen front covers that tell its story."